Design printing device



y 5 J. A. HERBERT ETAL 2,835,196

DESIGN PRINTING DEVICE 7 Filed Feb. 5, 1954 2 Sheets-Shet 1 I ig.

\\\ INVENTORS.

JE'POME ,4. HERBERT BY JOSEPH 144 HERBERT y 1958 J. A. HERBERT ET AL DESIGN PRINTING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 Filed Feb. 3, 1954 w\H\. mm-. k 6 J 1 r w W 5 M 49 4 w E i .1

y JOSEPH 14 HERBERT United States Patent DESIGN PRINTING DEVICE Jerome A. Herbert, Nashville, Tenn., and Joseph W. Herbert, Cincinnati, Ohio Application February 3, 1954, Serial No. 407,903 Claims. (Cl; 101-333) This invention relates to devices for printing decorative designs on painted and papered walls, and the like, the designs being printed with paint.

An object ofthis invention is to provide a device having. an open-ended frame for receiving a resilient plunger having, at one end, a rigid backing member and a handle or knob for operating the plunger, and at the opposite end, a rigid backing member provided with embossed printing pads which are paint-absorbent. The plunger is so constructed thatat least a portion of it frictionally engages the inside faces of the frame, whereby the plunger may be actuated forwardly of the frame to engage the printing pads with the wall surface to be decorated, and whereby the plunger may be actuated rearwardly. to re tract the printing pads from the surface both before and A still further object of the invention is to provide a device as set forth in the preceding objects, in which the frame is provided with markers to enable the user of the device to locate the designsat predetermined points on a wall surface to be decorated.

An 21 still furtherobject of the invention is to provide a device as set forth in the preceding objects, with a paint applicator that comprises a base member having, on its upper surface, paint-holding wells which conform to the printing pads on the plunger, and which are provided with paint-absorbent material in the bottom thereof to facilitate the application of paint to the printing pads.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will be apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains, from the following description and drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a view in transverse section of a device arranged and constructed in accordance withwhat now appears to be a preferred formof the invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan View of a rigidbacking member mounted on the'printing or' forward end of the. plunger of the device shown in Fig. 1, and to which are secured the design printing pads;

Fig. 3 is a view in section, taken on line Ill-11! of Fig. 2';

Fig. 4 is atop plan view of the frame in which the plunger of the device in Fig. 1 is contained;

Fig. 5 is a side view of the frame shown in Fig. 4, partly in section, taken on line V --Vof Fig; 4; and

Fig. dis a view similar to*Fi'g.' 1, showing a modified form of the: invention.

In Fig. lof the drawings is illustrated aprintingidevice 1 that comprises a frame 21 which is open at its opposite ends; aresilientplunger 3 having printingpads 4, 5 and don-the printingor forward end thereof, and a handle or knob 7 secured to a'backingmember 7 attachedlto the opposite end. The device is provided witha paint; applicator 8 for applyingpaint ofrthesameor different colors to the printing pads 4, 5 and 6.

The frameZ-may be rectangular in plan view, assh'own in Fig. 4; andmay be made of wood or other suitab'le material. As. shown, the inner faces of the sides-of'the frame are provided withshouldrs 9in the lower end thereof, which act collectively as an annular stopor arrester for the plunger 3. The outer: end of i the frame may be provided with a border member 9 having an opening. substantially equal? inarea to the opening in the forward end of thefrarne.

The-plunger 3 comprises a. body 10 portion of resilient,

flexible material such as sponge rubbb'er (either'natural or synthetic), a: central layer or body portion 11 of materialwhich'rnay bethe same as thatin portion 10, anda layer or body portion 12 of substantially the same dimensionsas the upper body portion 10'! The'layer 11', as shown, is larger than the body portionsllland 12, and-extends to, and engages, theinner faces of the frame 2 above the shoulder 9. The layer 11, therefore, re-' siliently andlfrictionally engages thesides of the frame 2 so that the plunger 3 mayi be heldin a retracted position, as shown in-Fig; 1*, in whichp'ositioirthe printing pads 4, 5 andb are spaced inwardly of the lower face 13of the frame. The inner end of the frame is placed against a wall when adesignis to be'printedthereon;

The printing pads-4; 5 and fi'consist of layers 15', 16 and 1'7'respectively, of paint-absorbent material, such as felt, which are mountedon, andsecuredj as with an ad hesive, to shimsor bosses 18, Band 20. The bosses'18; 19 and20 are, in turn, secured, as with adhesive, to a rigid backing member 21;

on the inside, asshown at 23; for'receiving the body pormm 12 of the'plunger. When the backing. member 21- thereon a'raised portion 26, in which paint wells 27, 28 andZSi are formedto accommodate the printing pads- 15, 16'and17, respectively. The bottom of the paint wells 27, 28 and 29 may be covered with a paint-absorbent material 3t}, 31 and32, respectively, of a paint-absorbent material such as felt of suitable kind.

Paints of different colors may be placed. in the paint wells 27, 28 and 29, in accordance with the particular scheme of design to be employed; For example, wells 27 and 29rnay contain paint of the same col-or, andv well 28, paint of a contrasting color. Furthermore-,the arrangement of printing pads on member 21 may be rnodifi ed in accordance with a particular scheme of-design in which case the paint applicator wouldbe correspondingly;-

modified to provide the number of paint wells required. Thus, the paint scheme and the designs m-ay-bernodified as required.

In order that the printing device 1. may be. properly positioned on a wall at predetermined locations, to insure that a design will be printed on the same in-the proper position and be symmetrical with other designs, the frame.

2 is provided with marking, notches 34, 35, 36'and 37 The markers are located in the top andsides thereof. approximately at the vertioaland' horizontal center lines of theframe; so thatthey areat'rightangle to each other,

The rigid backing memb'er 2 is provided with a border'flange 22 which is undercut Therefore, when a design is to be printed at a particular location on a wall, the center of each design can be marked off on the wall by lines which intersect at right angles. By locating the notches in the frame on these right-angled intersecting lines, the design, when printed on the wall, will be properly centered.

Assuming that paint is in the wells 27, 28 and 29, and one is about to print designs on a wall surface, the frame 2 is placed over the paint applicator 8, as shown in Fig. l, and lowered until the innerface 13 of the frame rests on the top surface of the base 25. The plunger 3 is then forced downwardly by applying hand pressure on the knob 7 until the pads 15, 16 and 17 contact the paint in the paint wells. The plunger 3 is then retracted until the printing pads are within the frame and above the end face 13 thereof. The device 1 is then ready to be placed on the wall and located, as above described, by means of the notches 34 to 37, respectively. The frame 2 is held against the wall by one handand for that purpose the frame may be provided with finger holes 39 and 40, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5and with the other hand pressing on the knob 7, the plunger 3 is advanced through the frame until the felt pads 15, 16 and 17 engage the wall, at which time the design is printed thereon.

To avoid smearing, the operator retracts the plunger 7 to the position shown in Fig. l, to insure that the felt pads are off the wall surface before frame 2 is removed from the wall.

The printing pads 15, 1-6 and 17 may pick up a quantity of paint that is sufiicient for the printing of two or more designs to the wall with one application by the paint wells. However, the operator, with practice, can determine whether or not paint should be applied to the felt pads 15, 16 and 17 after each printing of a design, or after two or more printings.

Since the base 21 is detachably secured to the layer 12 of the plunger, base 21 may be substituted for another base having thereon printing pads of different design or configuration. Therefore, the home decorator may use a variegated arrangement of designs to suit his taste.

-In Fig. 6 of the drawings is illustrated a modified form of device. The device, as shown in Fig. 6, is similar in all respects to the one shown in Fig. 1, with the exception that it is provided with a bail or handle 42 of substantially U-shape, as shown. The bail spans the outer side or end of the frame 2, and is provided with a guide bore 43 for accommodating a plunger rod 44, one end of which is secured to the knob 7 of the plunger 3. Thus, with the arrangement shown in Fig. 6, the operator may grasp the handle .42 in both hands when preparing to place the frame at the desired location on a wall, and then apply pressure with either or both hands through the thumbs, on a knob 45, to actuate the plunger to printing position. While the hands are still grasping the handle 42, the plunger rod 44 may be retracted with the fingers without moving the frame 2, thereby insuring that the printing pads 15, 16 and 17 will have been moved out of engagement with the wall, there-by preventing smearing of the freshly-applied design.

Having thus described the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various modifications and changes may be made therein, without departing from either the spirit or the scope of the invention.

Therefore, what we claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent is:

We claim:

1. A device for printing designs and the like which comprises a frame having open ends and at least one inwardly facing wall surface between and outwardly of inwardly extending stop faces spaced from the open ends, a plunger in the frame, a rigid base member having printing pads mounted on said plunger, said plunger being movable in the frame and having a resilient compressible flexible body at least a portion of which is adapted to extend between the stop faces for reciprocation therebetween and to frictionally engage the inwardly facing wall surface of the frame to at all times frictionally resist movement of the plunger relative to the frame, said stop faces being adapted to co-operate with and limit movement of the portion of said body extending between the stop faces within said frame to provide additional resilient resistance to further plunger movement in a given direction, whereby said printing pads are advanceable into printing engagement with the surface to be decorated by actuation of said plunger and biased toward a position in which the printing pads are supported in spaced relation to said surface to be decorated, both before and after printing.

2. A device for printing designs in paint and the like on a flat surface such as a wall, that comprises a frame raving open ends, a plunger in the frame, said plunger having a body of resilient compressible flexible material frictionally gripping the frame and being resiliently distorted by actuation thereof, said compressible body of the plunger, having at its printing end, a rigid base member, and on the printing face thereof, paint absorbent pads forming the design to be printed, said plunger and its compressible body being movable in the frame, to actuate the printing pads onto the surface to be decorated, the compressible resilient body of the plunger frictionally engaging the sides of the frame to bias the plunger to resiliently returnto a corresponding released position to hold the printing pads within the frame and out of contact with said surfaces to be decorated, both before and after printing.

3. A device for printing designs in paint and the like on a flat surface such as a wall, that comprises a frame having open ends and an interior shoulder having a seat face, a plunger reciprocable in the frame,'said plunger having a body of resilient compressible flexible material, a portion of the resilient body frictionally gripping the frame and being adapted to co-operatively engage said seat face on said frame to resiliently oppose further travel of the plunger and its compressible body beyond a predetermined position in the printing direction, a rigid base member being secured to the compressible body of the plunger at its printing end, on the printing face of the rigid base member, paint absorbent pads forming the design to be printed, said plunger and its compressible body being movable in the frame to actuate the printing pads onto the surface to be decorated, the compressible resilient body of the plunger frictionally engaging the sides of the frame to bias the plunger to resiliently return to a corresponding released position to hold the printing pads within the frame and out of contact with said surfaces to be decorated, both before and after printing.

4. A device for printing designs in paint and the like on a flat surface such as a wall, that comprises a frame having open ends, a plunger in the frame, said plunger having a body of resilient compressible flexible material frictionally gripping the frame, said compressible body of the plunger, having at its printing end, a rigid base member having an undercut flange adapted to receive and frictionally grip the adjacent end portion of the resilient compressible body, and on the printing face of the rigid base member, paint absorbent pads forming the design to be printed, said plunger and its compressible body being movable in the frame, to actuate the printing pads onto the surface to be decorated, the compressible body of the plunger frictionally engaging the sides of the frame to bias the plunger to resiliently return to a corresponding released position to hold the printing pads within the frame and out of contact with said surfaces to be decorated, both before and after printing.

5. A device and base for printing designs in paint and the like on a substantially fiat surface such as a wall, that comprises aframe having open ends, a plunger in the frame, said plunger having a body of resilient compressible flexible material frictionally gripping the frame, said compressible body of the plunger, having at its printing end, a rigid base member, and on the printing face thereof, paint-absorbent pads forming the design to be printed, said plunger and its compressible body being movable in the frame, a base having a raised portion adapted to extend into the frame toward the printing pads, there being in the upper surface of said raised portion, paint-holding wells conforming in shape and spacing to the printing pads for receiving same, the bottom of said wells having pads of paint-absorbent material thereon, said plunger being actuatable to advance the printing pads into said Wells to apply paint thereto and onto the surface to be decorated, the compressible body of the plunger being adapted to frictionally engage the sides of the frame at selected positions to bias the plunger to resiliently return to a corresponding released position to hold the printing pads within the frame and out of contact with said paint in said wells and out of contact with said surfaces to be decorated, both before and after paint application to said printing pads and after printing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 7,164-X Boynton July 12, 659,535 Lankford Oct. 9, 743,762 Shea Nov. 10, 880,225 Lamb et a1. Feb. 25,

1,179,979 Troup Apr. 18, 1,248,184 Silverstene Nov. 27, 1,249,417 Kennedy et al Dec. 11, 1,291,026 Koehler Jan. 14, 1,906,094 Powell Apr. 25, 1,976,288 Ludewigs Oct. 9, 2,234,422 Wiswell Mar. 11, 2,307,127 Hardy Jan. 5, 2,414,895 Reynolds et a1. Ian. 28,

FOREIGN PATENTS 3,091 Great Britain ,1 Sept. 9,

462,477 Great Britain Mar. 10,

Germany Mar. 20. 

